Amazing Spider-Man 644
And the ongoing saga of Spider-Man and a baby continues! I must say, it seems like this is more of a conclusion of the Gauntlet than anything else was, what with villains like Electro, Sandman, Rhino and Vulture coming through. And seeing how I loved the Gauntlet, this story is building steam in my mind and with the halfway point here, I’ve gotta say, we’re in for one great ending (Or so I hope!)
The issue opens with, you guessed it, Spider-Man swinging through the city with the littlest Osborn in his arms. As he swings around, he encounters both Vulture and making his long-awaited return… Freak! As Freak and Vulture duke it out to see who gets to attack Spider-Man, Spidey leaves the two behind and gets assaulted by the Rhino! Pleading to his humanity, Spidey makes it out by the skin of his teeth only to be attacked by a psychological assault courtesy of Mysterio! Escaping again, he runs into an ally who he passes the baby, as he fights Freak and Vulture in round 2! But alas, it appears that in all the mayhem, the baby has died, sending Spider-Man into a rage, the likes of which are rarely seen. But all is not as it seems…
Mark Waid continues to write a stellar story to close out Brand New Day. Since it is now the halfway point, it’s safe to say what the quality of this story will be, and I’m quite happy with it. Now, here is what people need to know. I never read Spider-Man before Brand New Day. Brand New Day, while not perfect, is what got me into Spider-Man and therefore, its status quo is the one in which I’m most familiar. Your liking of this story will be based on how much you liked Brand New Day as a whole, but I will say that this story is one of the better Brand New Day stories. Heck, even the Carlie sidestory got better this issue, which makes the rest of the issue feel more balanced.
Paul Azaceta on art does a very solid job. Does he do a perfect job? No. But while his art does have inconsistencies and I don’t like his interpretation of pretty much any of the female characters, he does have his strengths, such as his versions of Vulture and Harry Osborn, and Spideys movement. The last three pages though, in contrast, show incredible strength of emotion control and for a character in a mask, that’s quite a feat. So props Mr. Azaceta, and to Javier Rodriguez, as always, thank you for your lovely colors. I actually find that it’s the coloring in particular that brings this comic to life, casting a feel upon the book that it would lack with another styling.
Overall, Amazing Spider-Man 644 is a slight step up from the previous installments, but that doesn’t make it perfect. It’s still very good though, and I’m looing forward to next issue very much so, because I never saw that ending coming and it can lead to some very interesting developments. 4 out of 5.
